s-Cry-ed Vol. #5 (of 6) (Mania.com)

What They SayIn an attempt to capture Mimori, both Kigetsuki and the Tokonatsu sisters attack the Inner village! Arriving in the nick of time, Kazuma thwarts the attacks, but Kazuma and Kanami's reunion is short-lived as she is kidnapped by Biff. While Cougar tries to calm down Kazuma and Ryuho to plan their next course of action, Mujo attacks them with the surveillance/attack satellite, HOLY Eye. To set the stage for the final showdown, Mujo orders the evacuation of the Lost Ground and creates an Alter fortress in the heart of the city with powers enhanced by Kanami's Alter. When Ryuho goes to rescue Kanami, he will face his former mentor, Martin Zigmarl and learn the truth about the mysterious Alter responsible for his mother's death.

The Review!Kazuma and Ryuho’s power is so strong it opens a door to the Other Side for Mujo to slip into and complete his mission of gaining that highly sought after power; but do these two Alter users now have the will and strength to stop Mujo who now has increased his power greatly from both the Other Side and Kamami?

Audio:For this viewing session I listened to s-CRY-ed in Bang Zoom’s English Dolby Digital. The show’s shonen nature has plenty of action and explosions coming at you from the rear speakers and the dialogue from the center, with no dropouts or distortions. I also took a look at the Japanese Dolby after watching the entire disc already, for I wanted to make sure there was no apparent problems with this audio which was balanced and functioning properly.

Video:Unlike most shows, Sunrise’s 2001 release s-CRY-ed never has the same opening sequence which evolves as the series progress. The transfer is high quality, especially with the gargantuan amount of color that the show displays. The only time there is a small amount of bleeding in the video is when multiple Alters are being summoned at the same time.

Packaging:For this volume Scheris is the main focus looking up to the sky from her knees with a picture of Ryuho’s head with his eyes closed behind her. S-CRY-ed appears near the bottom of the front cover, with the subtitle Evacuation, and Bandai’s Platinum label is on top. On the back there are five screen caps on a marble like surface. The insert is a replica of the cover with diagrams of Martin Zigmarl and Alter Alias as well as Straight Cougar and his Alter Radical Goodspeed.

Menu:The menu’s opening sequence begins with the same flash of light from the show when Ryuho or Kazuma is going to the Other Side and then a clip from when Ryuho releases Zetsuei from his bindings to fight Zigmarl. The menu has a thirty second looping clip of “Reckless Fire” and Zetsuei is this time the character on the screen with a river of techno color behind the Alter. To the upper left is the s-CRY-ed title with the play, scenes, extras and setup directly below it. The menu responds quickly and uses the eye catch to transport you to other parts of the disc.

Extras:Once again this series has four textless openings since they were all different from each other. The character videos this time are Kanami and Mujo which include clips that span the entire series. The sound comic this time focuses on Ryuho fighting a member of Super Holy which isn’t in the anime itself but is in the manga. There is DVD commercials for the initial R2 release of s-CRY-ed with Ryuho as the focus, Kazuma as the focus and a general DVD promotion commerical as well. The design gallery includes: Elian 3 & 4 with the Elian Knight Alter, HOLY Eye, Martin Zigmarl & Alter Alias & the last four pages of designs are for Ryuho in his ultimate form. Also there is a new feature this time: the illustration gallery/sound drama titled ‘Living at Top Speed” which has continually changing art pictures while Cougar talks to Ryuho and Kazuma & ends with the internal monologue of Kanami. Finally this disc also includes trailors for Dragon Drive, Yukikaze & Galaxy Angel.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers) With everyone fighting their battles away from the village Kigetsuki attacks with only Scheris to stand in his way. As she is fighting Kigetsuki’s Alter the Tokonatsu Sisters we get to see the first glimpse of her Alter Eternal Devote but the drain is too much and soon she is captured by the Tokonatsu Sisters. Kigetsuki is disappointed that Ryuho is gone, but he gets his away as Zetsui burst into the fight. The heartfelt reunion is short lived when Hammer materializes and Kigetsuki lets everyone know that Biff is got all the people of the town as his hostages. Ryuho refuses to give into Kigetsuki’s orders and Biff is about to crush the people when Kazuma explodes through Hammer making a grand appearance. With a little help from his old friend Straight Cougar, Kazuma makes it on time to turn the tide of this battle. Kigetsuki knows the only way to defeat them is to merge the three Tokonatsu Sisters into their ultimate form The Burning Summer whose lava is turned back by Ryuho and Kazuma’s energy alone. Kigetsuki’s threats work on Ryuho, but Kazuma doesn’t care about the consequences like usual and destroys Burning Summer with one Shell Bullet. There is no congratulations from Ryuho though, nothing but punches back and forth. Kazuma lets everyone know that Mujo was responsible for the stripping and refining of the Alters of the men they had easily defeated.

Kanami and Kazuma play catch up on what has been going on during their absence, for Kamami it is where has her Kaza-kun been and for him it how on Earth did she become friends with Ryuho. Cougar fills in everyone on the true intentions of the Mainland and what has been really going on all this time, on how to gain the power of the Other Side. Ryuho and Kazuma are so similar, with the only thing separating them being upbringing, that they can’t keep from clashing with each other. While arguing with each other once more Biff is able to kidnap Kanami with the speed of his jetpack leaving Kazuma and Ryuho in the dust only able to watch as he flies off with his prize.

Ravaged by guilt Kazuma struggles to deal with the capturing of Kanami while Mimori and Tachibana try to heal all the wounded villagers. Kazuma decides to walk off and head to the city but Cougar gives him a swift kick to the ribs and one to the back of Ryuho who also thinks not listening is good idea. Cougar is the lone voice of reason for these two. Mujo has now set his plan into motion, by executing an order to have the Lost Ground evacuated. Ryuho’s counseling by Mimori lets him remember his purpose in life, and Kazuma struggles to get free of Cougar’s figure four deathlock as a missile barely misses them. It relays a message from Ryuho’s family house, where his Dad has just shot himself in the head, and to say that he plans to shoot them with HOLY Eye. Kazuma and Ryuho use their Other Side power to stop the powerful blast and destroy the satellite; but by doing so open the door so that Mujo can go to the Other Side and gain more power from the crystallized form of the Other Side. Using a combination of his newly upgraded power and Kanami’s Alter power Mujo makes a giant Alter castle in the middle of the city, and Kazuma and Ryuho return from the atmosphere and fly to the door of the castle to make the last battle with Mujo and rescue Kanami.

The two make their way into Mujo’s castle and we hear their thoughts so similar in their focus and goals. It gives an excellent insight into just how much Ryuho and Kazuma are alike. The path forks and they must go their own way, with Ryuho running straight into his old commander Zigmarl. He brings out his Alter for the first time in the series Alter Alias and pushes Ryuho to his limits. At the same time Kazuma meets up once again with Biff whom he beats repeatedly. Zigmarl explains the truth behind the Alter who killed his Ryuho’s mother, for the it wasn’t a native Alter but rather the crystallized form of the Other Side. The rage and careful pushing of Ryuho by Zigmarl allows him to achieve his ultimate form of Zetsui. The true power of Zetsui is far too much for the old Zigmarl to handle, but he was able to get Ryuho where he needed him to be so that Zigmarl could finally protect the Alters like he planned all along. Kazuma after twelve tries gets Biff’s mind control device to finally break and he falls to his death. These two battles are over but their main target is still standing in their way; for Mujo stills has Kanami locked up in the center of his castle and only the Other Side powered Ryuho and Kazuma will be able to defeat him once and for all.

In Summary: Another strong volume building the final character development of the two leads as well as their connections to all the supporting characters. Ryuho and Kazuma must now face their last great obsticle in the form of the dangerous Mainland Alter user Mujo. Certainly when this final battle close to being here the question begs to be asked: who will survive this deadly altercation? Ryuho, Kazuma, Scheris, Cougar and Mimori put their lives on the line to save Kanami, but will anyone be able to save them if the time calls for it? The exciting conclusion of one of the most surprising series I’ve seen in a while is all that remains.